Are you ready for some football? It's your 2012 NCAA Football thread.

So tomorrow the polls will come out with Bama and LSU at #1 and #2. Deja vu, anyone?

If LSU beats Alabama when they meet will anyone decide that Bama is still better? Last year shows us that evidently their regular season matchup doesn't really mean anything.

It wasn't anywhere near as simple as that and you know it. First of all, a loss to the #1 team in the nation, in overtime, by a field goal is a lot different than if LSU had been ranked 15th and had beaten Bama by 28 points. If they'd gotten a rematch after that, then yeah I'd agree. There was also the little problem with there not being another undefeated team other than LSU. OK State had lost an embarrassing upset and I can see how the powers that be thought that loss was worse than Bama's.

The objection is essentially "uh, 2006? WTF?".

We have the #2 team losing to the #1 team, on the road, by 3, and being denied a rematch. And then we have the #2 team losing to the #1 team, on the road, by 3, and getting a rematch. It's very hard to point out how regular season results logically & consistently lead to post season berths.

With many Nebraska Fans as friends, telling them that NU couldn't handle a real conference and left for easier games just doesn't get old. Watching the Big 10's current pathetic performance is a guilty pleasure of mine.

Before you get too excited, realize that the reason I want all those outcomes is #1 Fuck Notre Dame, and #2 it would leave SEC teams in #1, #2, #3, and #4 nationally. So you might want to think about how insufferable I would be next week if this happens.

Before you get too excited, realize that the reason I want all those outcomes is #1 Fuck Notre Dame, and #2 it would leave SEC teams in #1, #2, #3, and #4 nationally. So you might want to think about how insufferable I would be next week if this happens.

Also, that'd push Florida in to the top 10 for sure. So we'd be looking at SEC in #1-4 and probably #8 or #9. The other conferences' fans' butthurt would be tremendous.

JMCSpartan08: Here's a f---ing fact: Andrew Maxwell is such a worthless human being that he actually has negative worth... so much so that the US government has barred him from being an organ or blood donor.

Cap: C'mon, man. You can say what you want about his play, but to say a fellow Spartan is a worthless human being is way out of line. Way out of line.

JMCSpartan08: Athletes are my entertainment slaves. I used human being for lack of a better word.

Whether or not you're from the opposing team, do not salute a Sergeant. This guy may have gotten off easy.

And since nobody asked, here's my ACC picks for the week, mostly because I want to go on record about the big game of the week. But we'll start out of conference:

- You never pick Duke. You also don't pick Memphis these days, either. Duke's more likely to play off their character, though. - West Virginia is going to humiliate Maryland, and then when the kickoff happens it'll get even worse.- North Carolina oughta be able to handle East Carolina-- but I'm only giving them the edge due to home field advantage.- It doesn't say much for my faith in the ACC this year that I'm picking the Citadel to beat NC State. The Citadel's done everything asked of them, and well. The Wolfpack's closest thing to a signature win is over a pretty mediocre looking Connecticut team.- As far as TCU can tell, a "wahoo" is the stuff they scrape off their cleats as they board the bus to head back home. Virginia's run defense got pretty dang exposed last weekend.- Virginia Tech can't figure out what happened last week, either, and Bowling Green's going to get the wrong end of a very, very angry Hokie squad. Pray for one hell of a lightning storm, Bowling Green.- Wake Forest versus Army: I grew up watching service academy football. I was so hoping this was going to be Army's year-- and it may still be, if only because Navy appears to be even worse. But that's not going to help them this week. The Demon Deacons take down the Black Knights unless someone gets confused over which black-and-gold uniforms are whose.

And in-conference:

- Nobody's giving Clemson a chance. And honestly, FSU's resume is better-- but I think the Tigers are going to steal this one. I don't think FSU is as good as advertised, but more so, this is how Clemson football is played. You show up, you get no respect, you take all the respect and then some, and you lose inexplicably to Boston College the next week.- Georgia Tech versus Miami: There are a number of fourth-year kids on Tech's squad who have never seen a victory over Miami. Fortunately for them, Miami's run defense is just as good as Virginia's. On the other hand, Miami almost had an off-week last week, so they'll make it closer than it should've been.

Where did this Auburn team come from? Frazier is actually playing...well. Very well. This gives me a lot of hope for the season. Even if we lose tonight, I at least get some hope back for a bowl game. Before tonight I'd pretty much written that off.

Great night for football. Auburn played a great game, by far the best they've played all year, and walked away with a 2 point loss to the #2 team in the nation. Michigan got within a TD of Notre Dame, but in the end couldn't make it happen. Kansas State played a great game and beat Oklahoma by 5. Clemson was looking good against Florida State for the first half, but has started falling apart in the 2nd.

That said, Oregon State showed they were a real team against Wisconsin a few weeks ago and just never got ranked. UCLA showed we were a real team against Nebraska and just happened to get ranked, I think the differences were much smaller than any ranking/no-ranking entailed.

So, it was a damned good game. UCLA just never had it. Our run got stifled-- in some part due to an offensive line that's young and still developing, more bad penalty calling on both sides, and more surprise (hah!) blown field goals... plus Hundley is still developing (and well for a freshman, but his amazing skill improvement the first two games has slowed the second two games...). Hundley pulled off an amazing pass to Evans for a touchdown plus one or two other skillful ones, which is more than any other UCLA QB has done the past 5 years or more, so I'll take that.

(edit: oh yeah, no interceptions by Hundley. That was a huge step from the previous game, which was in turn a huge step backwards from the first two. So he's learning...)

On Michigan v Notre Dame:This game was completely within Michigan's reach. Notre Dame is not for real yet. They won because they opposing QB threw 4 picks and fumbled to the other team (and a trick play pick).

For as much as the front 7 on both the O and D for ND were, I did not find it very impressive. Not many trips into the red zone despite a Michigan front 3 on D that 2 starters leave. Michigan's O line has been having trouble all season, even against Air Force and for the most part, Michigan did pretty great moving the ball. Michigan had some terrible picks in the endzone, at least 2. Ugh. I expected a lot more from ND after they dismantled MSU, but even giving them 5 turnovers they only manage one TD?

As for Michigan, their division is wide open, and frankly, the entire Big Ten looks pretty bad this year. Anyone (well except OSU and PSU) can go to the Rose Bowl this year...

That said, Oregon State showed they were a real team against Wisconsin a few weeks ago and just never got ranked. UCLA showed we were a real team against Nebraska and just happened to get ranked, I think the differences were much smaller than any ranking/no-ranking entailed.

So, it was a damned good game. UCLA just never had it. Our run got stifled-- in some part due to an offensive line that's young and still developing, more bad penalty calling on both sides, and more surprise (hah!) blown field goals... plus Hundley is still developing (and well for a freshman, but his amazing skill improvement the first two games has slowed the second two games...). Hundley pulled off an amazing pass to Evans for a touchdown plus one or two other skillful ones, which is more than any other UCLA QB has done the past 5 years or more, so I'll take that.

(edit: oh yeah, no interceptions by Hundley. That was a huge step from the previous game, which was in turn a huge step backwards from the first two. So he's learning...)

Great night for football. Auburn played a great game, by far the best they've played all year, and walked away with a 2 point loss to the #2 team in the nation. Michigan got within a TD of Notre Dame, but in the end couldn't make it happen. Kansas State played a great game and beat Oklahoma by 5. Clemson was looking good against Florida State for the first half, but has started falling apart in the 2nd.

Great night for football. Auburn played a great game, by far the best they've played all year, and walked away with a 2 point loss to the #2 team in the nation.

So what you're saying is the supposed #2 team in the nation could only put a two point margin of victory on some shlubs that've been beaten by an ACC team and needed overtime to squeak one out against UL Monroe?

I'm not sure I follow. So once a team has played horribly for a couple games, they aren't allowed to play well in any, or else that means their entire conference is now over-rated and gets no respect?

To be clear, if Auburn had played the first three games the way they played against LSU, I think they would've been 3-0 going into yesterday's game, and probably ranked in the top 15.

By the way, I hope you guys aren't under the impression that whether you personally respect the SEC has any bearing on the fact that they've won 8 out of 14 BCS national championships, or the last 6 in a row. Oh, and here's another fun fact. Of those 6 in a row, not counting last year when an SEC team played another SEC team for the title, we've beaten whatever team some powder puff conference mistakenly thought worthy of playing against us by an average of 14 points. (If anything, that last sentence should be why you all hate SEC fans. )

Anyone wanna take bets right now on whether it's 7 in a row after this season? I'll put down $20 paypal to any and all takers.

I'm not sure I follow. So once a team has played horribly for a couple games, they aren't allowed to play well in any, or else that means their entire conference is now over-rated and gets no respect?

To be clear, if Auburn had played the first three games the way they played against LSU, I think they would've been 3-0 going into yesterday's game, and probably ranked in the top 15.

By the way, I hope you guys aren't under the impression that whether you personally respect the SEC has any bearing on the fact that they've won 8 out of 14 BCS national championships, or the last 6 in a row.

I'm not sure I follow. So once a team has played horribly for a couple games, they aren't allowed to play well in any, or else that means their entire conference is now over-rated and gets no respect?

Considering that's what happens to other conferences, yes? Part of this is the horrible nature of the "one loss determines your season" nature of college football. More to the point, when the only "Good" teams you play are in your own conference, barring the championship game, it's hard to really say how good you are. I would have a LOT more respect for the SEC if Bama or LSU regularly played one or two regular season games against OSU, Texas, USC, etc. It would also make early season football a LOT more fun.

Bama opened their season with Michigan. Auburn opened with Clemson. Florida plays Florida State every year. LSU opened with Oregon last year. Tennessee played Oregon the year before. Auburn played Clemson in 2011 and 2010, as well. South Carolina plays Clemson every year, if I'm not mistaken. Ole Miss played Texas last weekend.

I agree it should happen more often, but 1)it does happen, 2)that it doesn't happen more is not necessarily because of the SEC...both teams have to agree to play. Also there's the simple fact that the SEC is growing into a super-conference, and is going to continue to grow. We used to have 2 divisions of 6 where each year you'd play the other 5 teams in your division, plus 3 teams from the other division, then 4 out of conference teams. This year after growing to 14 teams, we are playing the other 6 teams in our division, and only 2 in the other division so that we still retain 4 out-of-conference games. Whenever we move to 16 teams in a few years, they're gonna have no choice but to drop one of those 4 out of conference teams, or else the teams in the not-your-division really become only nominally in the same conference other than the SEC championship at the end of the year. Personally, I'd love to see the SEC pick up Miami and Clemson, then move to playing 7 (16 teams means 8 per division) games a year against the other in-division teams, 3 games a year against teams in the other divisions, and then 2 games a year against out of conference teams. At that point we'll have such a monopoly on top ranked teams that my desire to see great football games will be able to be met without reaching out to other conferences except for the playoffs. Speaking of which, I'd love to see that grow to an 8 team playoff. Then our out-of-conference games would necessarily be against the best the other conferences can offer.